North African comfort food
Rich, big, satisfying, strengthening and relaxing. This is a dish for people who like real hearty food. I know this one from my childhood in Israel where people who immigrate to Israel from Morocco used to make this delicious chickpea soup next to couscous. This is a dish to become a classic for of your daily plant-based cuisine. It is warming, filling and comforting- what’s there not to like?
For 4 portions
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Waiting time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
100 gram chickpeas
400 ml water
1 onion cut into big chunks
1 carrot cut into big chunks
175 gram pumpkin
1 potato cut into big chunks
1/2 courgette cut into big chunks
2 celery stalks cut into big chunks
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp kerrie powder
Black pepper for taste
200 gram couscous
Olive, salt and pepper for taste
Parsley, chopped, for garnish
Place the chickpeas with 400 ml water in a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Or soak them overnight and pressure cook for 45 minutes. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, soak the chickpeas over night and cook for 2 hours in a normal pan. At any case, keep the cooking water.
Preheat a soup pan with 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and sauté for 5 more minutes. add the chickpeas with their cooking water and 600 ml of water. Add the salt, paprika, turmeric, kerrie powder and black pepper for taste. Bring to a boil and simmer over a medium flame with a covered lid for ½ an hour.
In the meanwhile, place the couscous in a bowl, add olive oil salt and pepper, mix and cover with 200 ml cooking water. The water should reach few millimeters above the couscous. Don’t mix and cover the bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to absorb the water. Uncover and mix.
Serve the couscous in generous plates covered with the soup. Garnish with parsley.